As an intervention in the political and physical landscape of a silicium quarry, the project confronts the ending of the welfare state with the desolate state of an exploited landscape.
The history of the site as a mining colony, which is still very much alive within its population, and the specific site that is being excavated for silicium (a valuable resource used to make glass, solar panels, ceramics etc.), are integrated in the project to create a catalyst for the inhabitants of the surrounding area to organize and start to develop and maintain their own public spaces and facilities, as a commentary on the fading wellfare-state.
The ideas in the project are supported by two documents: a literary and typological study of the “People’s Palace” and a survey of the site that relates it’s history to the contemporary political condition (with planning documents, legal frameworks, interviews etc.) in order to project an intervention that integrates all these aspects.
The implication of the design in the site, by using the excavation and the desolate state of the land, is a vital aspect of its architecture by embedding the structures in the landscape and building them from its material. For the intention is to create a public building, made for and used by the inhabitants, they have been engaged to get involved in the ritual of building generating relevance and a relationship to the facilities.
